Gabriele Tarquini
| Gabriele Tarquini | |
|---|---|
Tarquini at the 2014 FIA WTCC Race of Belgium.
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| Nationality |
 Italian |
| Born |
2 March 1962 Giulianova, Italy |
| World Touring Car Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2005 |
| Current team | Lada Sport Rosneft |
| Car no. | 2 |
| Former teams |
Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team Lukoil Racing Team Lukoil-SUNRED SEAT Sport Alfa Romeo |
| Starts | 266 |
| Wins | 22 |
| Poles | 17 |
| Fastest laps | 24 |
| Best finish | 1st in 2009 |
| Previous series | |
| 2002–04 2000–01 1998–99 1996 1994–95, 97, 99–2000 1989, 92–93, 95 1987–1992, 1995 1985–87 1987 1983–84 |
ETCC European Super Touring German Super Touring ITC BTCC Italian Superturismo Formula One International F3000 WTCC Italian F3 |
| Championship titles | |
| 2009 2003 1994 |
WTCC ETCC BTCC |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
|---|---|
| Active years | 1987–1992, 1995 |
| Teams | Osella, Coloni, First, AGS, Fondmetal, Tyrrell |
| Entries | 79 (38 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Career points | 1 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1987 San Marino Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1995 European Grand Prix |
Gabriele Tarquini (born 2 March 1962) is an Italian racing driver. He participated in 78 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on May 3, 1987. He scored 1 championship point, and holds the record for the most failed attempts to qualify. He has subsequently raced successfully in Touring Cars, winning the BTCC in 1994, the ETCC in 2003 and the WTCC in 2009.
On 22 November 2009 he won the 2009 FIA World Touring Car Championship title at the age of 47 years and 266 days. This made him the oldest ever world champion in an FIA series, breaking Juan Manuel Fangio's record of being FIA Formula One World Drivers' Champion at the age of 46 years and 41 days in 1957.
Tarquini began karting in 1976. By 1985 he was driving in Formula 3000, spending three seasons with underfunded outfits. His best result was 2nd at Imola in 1987, by which time he had already made his Grand Prix debut in a one-off drive for Osella at the 1987 San Marino Grand Prix.
He joined Coloni's Grand Prix team for 1988, having driven for them in F3000 in 1986. The season saw a prequalifying system being put in place as there were 31 entrants for a maximum 30 places in qualifying proper. As such, the slowest of the new entrants for the season (Coloni, Rial, Dallara and EuroBrun) would be eliminated from proceedings after the Friday morning session regardless of their overall position - Tarquini failed to prequalify several times despite often being faster than some of the exempt entrants (such as the Osella and Zakspeed cars). He drew good notices for his performance overall, however - his 8th place at the Canadian Grand Prix would stand as the team's best ever result and his eight starts the most ever garnered by a Coloni driver.
Tarquini signed to drive for the FIRST team (again a former employer in F3000) and drove for them at the Formula One Indoor Trophy, but when their car failed crash tests he started 1989 without a ride. Following Philippe Streiff's career-ending pre-season testing crash, Tarquini joined Joachim Winkelhock in the AGS team from the second round of the series. There he finished a fine 8th on the road, being promoted to 6th after the exclusion of Thierry Boutsen and Alex Caffi. He was then one of the stars of the weekend in Monaco, threatening to qualify in the top 6 before ending up 13th on the grid. In the race he advanced to a strong 4th before being sidelined by an electrical problem. At the following Mexican Grand Prix he finished 6th, though the team's joy was tempered after Williams and Scuderia Italia successfully appealed against their Imola disqualification and Tarquini lost his point. More bad luck followed at Phoenix where Tarquini was holding 6th despite technical problems before Boutsen passed him on the final lap. At the wet Canadian Grand Prix Tarquini again ran well until being shoved off the track by René Arnoux (who eventually went on to finish 5th). The series then moved to faster tracks where the AGS was less competitive and the results of others meant Tarquini's entry (exempt for the first half of the season thanks to Streiff's efforts in 1988) would have to prequalify for the second half of the season.
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